Firefighters gain some ground against New Mexico blazes

June 07, 2013|Reuters

By Zelie Pollon

SANTA FE, N.M., June 7 (Reuters) - Firefighters, takingadvantage of cooling temperatures, gained ground on Fridayagainst a pair of blazes in New Mexico, one of them threateningdozens of archeological sites and sacred Native Americanlandmarks west of Santa Fe.

The so-called Thompson Ridge fire, burning for a week in theValles Caldera National Preserve, had scorched at least 14,000acres (5,665 hectares) of rugged forest lands as of Friday, withcontainment lines carved around 10 percent of the blaze so far,fire information officer Jan Bardwell said.

Bardwell said fire crews planned to begin assessing damageto Redondo Peak, a mountaintop considered sacred to many NativeAmericans that was the focus of intense protection efforts asflames raced over the area earlier in the week.

"According to the aerial flights, it looks really good, butwe'll know more today when they get back," Bardwell said."Firefighters did such a good job protecting historic and sacredsites throughout the caldera."

Fire officials said the preserve contains about 660 sites ofcultural or archaeological significance, and that 200 of thosewere located in the projected path of advancing flames at onepoint.

In addition to saving various areas regarded as sacred toNative Americans, firefighters managed to protect a number ofsites containing artifacts of early human settlement, as well assome historic ranch buildings and an ancient grove of treescalled the "History Grove."

"Because trees of this age contain all this information,including climate information, saving them from the burning is atremendous value to us," said Ana Steffen, a cultural resourcescoordinator for the Valles Caldera.

Improved weather conditions also helped firefighters securemore containment lines around the Tres Lagunas Fire, which wassparked on May 30 by a downed power line and has continued toburn east of Santa Fe.

Fire officials said that blaze had charred more than 10,000acres (4,000 ha) and was one-third contained by Friday.Authorities ordered the evacuation of 144 homes at the fire'sstart, but they allowed residents of about a dozen homes toreturn on Wednesday.

Because incoming storms were bringing higher winds andhumidity but very little rain, fire officials said they werewary of lightning strikes that could spark additional firesacross New Mexico's drought-ravaged landscape.